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OPTECH 2025 is in the books, and it was its usual, energetic self. In the event's first year as a "members only" event, some things changed, many stayed the same, and it all went by in a flash, as it normally does.
It's that time of year again. Next week, RETTC OPTECH will bring down the curtain on a busy year of conferences for those interested in multifamily operations and technology. For the last few years, this blog has published an analysis of the OPTECH attendee list. It's a useful way to see what's changing—and what isn't—in multifamily technology. The mix of attendees, by company type, always offers clues about broader industry trends.
Disagreement can be a wonderful thing. It's how we test our ideas and beliefs, explore their limits and open ourselves to competing views that shape and strengthen our understanding.
Delivering keynotes is fun, mainly because they usually require the person delivering them to pull together multiple strands of thought into a single coherent narrative.
One of the biggest risks with any emerging technology is that potential customers will fail to see the improvement opportunity the technology offers. With transformational technologies, the risk is particularly acute, as potential users may struggle to imagine the impact on today's business.
Most new ideas or ways of working don't spread quickly, until they do. It's a bit like Hemingway's description of bankruptcy happening in two ways, "gradually, then suddenly." Something similar might be happening at the moment with multifamily's tech-enabled reinvention of its long-standing operating model.
Fall conference season is fast approaching, and this year's program promises a few interesting conversations. I've been preparing what promises to be an intriguing conversation on a topic that seems to be growing in importance: how multifamily operators select technology. A lot has changed about the tech itself and how we fund the companies that make it. Both provide important context for a session that I am particularly looking forward to at Blueprint next month.
"There's no smoke without fire" has always been a dubious expression—and one most commonly heard in the context of gossip. It came to mind as the rumor mill started up again following the most recent local government action against revenue management (RM), this time in Seattle.
A little over a year ago, I recorded a series of interviews with the leaders of technology companies helping our industry address the growing problem of fraud.The interviews developed a couple of themes emerging from the most recent 20for20 Annual Survey. Fraud had jumped to the top of many executives' priorities, and there seemed to be an unusually large number of software vendors helping to address the problem.
Two major themes seem to be coming up lately in multifamily technology and operations. One is centralization—the dominant idea in how companies are restructuring work. The other is tech bloat—the growing problem of companies buying too much technology without fully accounting for the associated costs. As with so many big topics in multifamily, the two ideas are starting to converge.
Posts by:
OPTECH 2025 is in the books, and it was its usual, energetic self. In the event's first year as a "members only" event, some things changed, many stayed the same, and it all went by in a flash, as it normally does.
It's that time of year again. Next week, RETTC OPTECH will bring down the curtain on a busy year of conferences for those interested in multifamily operations and technology. For the last few years, this blog has published an analysis of the OPTECH attendee list. It's a useful way to see what's changing—and what isn't—in multifamily technology. The mix of attendees, by company type, always offers clues about broader industry trends.
Disagreement can be a wonderful thing. It's how we test our ideas and beliefs, explore their limits and open ourselves to competing views that shape and strengthen our understanding.
Delivering keynotes is fun, mainly because they usually require the person delivering them to pull together multiple strands of thought into a single coherent narrative.
One of the biggest risks with any emerging technology is that potential customers will fail to see the improvement opportunity the technology offers. With transformational technologies, the risk is particularly acute, as potential users may struggle to imagine the impact on today's business.
Most new ideas or ways of working don't spread quickly, until they do. It's a bit like Hemingway's description of bankruptcy happening in two ways, "gradually, then suddenly." Something similar might be happening at the moment with multifamily's tech-enabled reinvention of its long-standing operating model.
Fall conference season is fast approaching, and this year's program promises a few interesting conversations. I've been preparing what promises to be an intriguing conversation on a topic that seems to be growing in importance: how multifamily operators select technology. A lot has changed about the tech itself and how we fund the companies that make it. Both provide important context for a session that I am particularly looking forward to at Blueprint next month.
"There's no smoke without fire" has always been a dubious expression—and one most commonly heard in the context of gossip. It came to mind as the rumor mill started up again following the most recent local government action against revenue management (RM), this time in Seattle.
A little over a year ago, I recorded a series of interviews with the leaders of technology companies helping our industry address the growing problem of fraud.The interviews developed a couple of themes emerging from the most recent 20for20 Annual Survey. Fraud had jumped to the top of many executives' priorities, and there seemed to be an unusually large number of software vendors helping to address the problem.
Two major themes seem to be coming up lately in multifamily technology and operations. One is centralization—the dominant idea in how companies are restructuring work. The other is tech bloat—the growing problem of companies buying too much technology without fully accounting for the associated costs. As with so many big topics in multifamily, the two ideas are starting to converge.